Las Cruces into West Texas

Pecan orchard south of Las Cruces with
 Organ Mountains in the background

From Las Cruces we rode through the Mesilla Valley with miles of pecan orchards, grape vines, farmland for cotton and small towns to El Paso.  The route crossed the Rio Grande several times. The Rio Grande had little or no water in it, just a dry sand bed.  However, we later learned that at times it is a raging torrent. We were moving between mountain ranges – the Organs (which looked like a pipe organ) above Las Cruces, and the Franklins above El Paso.  The road into El Paso was up hill, with three lanes, no shoulders, lots of traffic and those ridiculous Texas cross walks which force cyclist into the traffic lanes at each intersection.  We were glad to arrive safely at the Hilton Garden Inn next to the University of Texas El Paso, about a mile and a half north of the city center.  Saturday we took the hotel shuttle downtown and toured the El Paso Museum of History, the El Paso Museum of Art and the Magoffin home state historic site.  The museum of history and the art museum were in new buildings funded by a bond issue.   Both have considerably more display space than high quality displays to fill their expanded space.  The museum of history focused on the Hispanic roots of the city and the city’s prime location in history as missionaries, mail coaches, railroads and settlers went through this “Paseo del Norte.”    The highlight of the art museum was an exhibit of three generation of Wyeths, N.C., Andrew and Jamie, plus several lesser known Wyeth female artists.  The Magoffin home is a large adobe home owned by a prominent El Paso family in the early 1900s.  It has been nicely restored and the tour was very interesting.  The downtown is attempting revitalization, but has a ways to go.

Magoffin Home

Magoffin Home

Magoffin Home

Saturday night we ate at the Aroma restaurant.  I commented to Carolyn that she should enjoy the restaurant and the hotel as we were not likely to find such quality in west Texas.

Mountains in Mexico at Sunrise from Fort Hancock

Sierra Blanca (White Mountain)

Sunday morning we left El Paso, riding along the border with Mexico, just below the oil refineries.  Once out of El Paso we were in the country, passing through very depressed small towns with lots of loose dogs.  After outrunning several Chihuahuas, a pit bull and a pack of hunting dogs, we were not looking forward to more country roads through small west Texas towns.  We’ve done well with motels so far, but when we got to Fort Hancock (a one motel town) our luck ran out.  But the next town, Sierra Blanca, was a concern and turned out fine.  

On Monday we rode the I-10 and adjacent access roads and didn’t see a single dog.  As we move further east, the towns are still depressed but much better than those along the Mexican border.  Both Sierra Blanca Monday night and Van Horn Tuesday night appear to have more motels than the interstate can support and lots of vacant buildings and vacant lots, but some businesses seem to be doing OK. 

Today, Wednesday, was our day off in Van Horn and we toured the Culberson County Historical Museum and the El Capitan Hotel designed by Henry C. Trost, a well known architect and designer of western hotels in the early 1900s.  The lobby of the hotel has been beautifully restored as can be seen in the photo below.  The museum was in a second old hotel and had an interesting collection of artifacts from the area.  

Entering Van Horn

Culberson County Historical Museum

Culberson County Historical Museum

Culberson County Historical Museum

El Capitan Hotel, Van Horn Texas

Lobby of El Capitan Hotel